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It has been 15 years and a total of four murder trials for New York millionaire and businessman Calvin Harris. This week, the wild ride finally came to an end as a judge acquitted him of killing his wife, Michele. I’ve been mulling that verdict over the last few days, dancing around writing a blog post about it but not knowing where to start. You see, if you have read my book Missing Wives, Missing Lives, you’ll know that I don’t believe Cal is innocent. His actions on the morning of September 12, 2001, when he claimed to discover his wife did not come home the night before just don’t sit well with me. He’d threatened to kill her in the past. The couple was in the middle of a bitter divorce. And yet Cal didn’t seem to even bat an eye when Michele’s abandoned minivan was discovered near the end of the long, winding Harris driveway with the keys still in the ignition. Instead of reporting his wife missing, he took her car to work with him that same morning and cleaned it out.Click here to read the full blog post!

For most families, Christmas day is a time to gather with the entire family and celebrate life, love, and togetherness. For one family in La Vernia, Texas, Christmas day is a painful memory. It is the day their beloved daughter, sister, and mother, Patty Inez Brightwell Vaughan, mysteriously disappeared nineteen years ago. Those close to the investigation have long suspected Patty’s then-husband, J.R. Vaughan, in her disappearance. You might recall this particular case from my first book, Missing Wives, Missing Lives. Each Christmas, I say a silent prayer for Patty and her family, in hopes that one Christmas, they will have the answers to their questions and justice will have been served.

If you have information about this case, please think of Patty’s family on Christmas day and call 210-335-TIPS.

I am so excited to announce that my book, Missing Wives, Missing Lives, is now available for pre-order in paperback and eBook! The Audiobook will be available soon after its release on June 16. Pre-order today and you won’t pay until the release date. Click here to purchase now!

Everyone who pre-orders is automatically entered to win 1 of 2 $100 Amazon gift cards! Drawings will take place on June 9 and June 16. Make sure you like my Facebook page too, so you can see who the winners are! https://www.facebook.com/jjslate

When a wife goes missing, her husband is often the prime suspect in her disappearance. But what happens when she is never found? These are the stories of thirty missing women.

Fascinated by missing persons reports and cold cases for as long as she can remember, JJ Slate’s debut true crime book highlights thirty shocking true stories of wives that have mysteriously vanished, presumably at the hands of her husband. Countless cases like these have played out under the public spotlight, and many of them have been solved after the wife’s remains have eventually been found. But some of these women remain missing years later, denying the families their right to bury their loved ones. Many of these families continue the gruesome search for the remains of their daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt, or mother years, even decades, later.

Missing Wives, Missing Lives focuses on thirty unique cases in which the wife has never been found and the undying efforts of her family as they continue the painful search to bring her home. The book covers decades old cases, such as Jeanette Zapata, who has been missing since 1976, to more recent and widely known cases, such as Stacy Peterson, who has been missing since 2007. Keeping these women’s stories alive may be the key to solving the mystery and bringing them home to their families. Someone out there knows something.